


Stay Calm

by FrankieFandom



Category: Chicago Fire
Genre: Car Accidents, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, hurt!Casey, hurt!Severide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2016-10-28
Packaged: 2018-08-27 06:58:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8391700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrankieFandom/pseuds/FrankieFandom
Summary: Casey and Severide find themselves in a precarious situation.





	1. A Car Ride

Casey was in his quarters slouched on his chair as he went over some paperwork. There was a quick knock on the closed door; it opened before he could turn around so he assumed it was Severide, no one else would just waltz into his quarters. He was correct. "Hey, you good?" Severide asked as he popped his head through the doorframe.

"Fine," Casey replied shortly, "Do you want something or are you just enquiring about my wellbeing?" He wasn't in the mood for Severide's questioning especially if it was related to Dawson, he just wanted to forget about the matter.

"I meant to ask you something yesterday," Severide began as he entered, "But I didn't see you."

"I've been busy." He'd been out all day finishing off a small construction job and he'd returned to an empty apartment.

"Yeah, so, I wasn't sure if you'd be able to help but…" Severide began.

"But?" he questioned, already sensing where the conversation was leading.

"I'm going down to my dad's cabin tomorrow, the roof needs a lot of work after the storm a few weeks ago," Severide explained.

"You need my help?" he assumed.

"I'd _like_ it," Severide replied, "And my dad's already got all the supplies we need."

"Ok sure, I'll come." He nodded and turned back to his desk.

"Thanks… hey _are_ you ok?" Severide asked glancing down at his friends bruised and slightly swollen hand, it had been a week since he'd put his fist through the plasterboard. "If you wanna talk…"

He shot him a look. "Because we're both the talking type right?"

Severide shrugged. "Leave at 10am tomorrow? We'll be back late but at least we can sleep in our own beds."

The next day Casey and Severide set off for the cabin, they went in Severide's car since all Casey brought along was his tool kit. They stopped for fuel and coffee and spoke very little during the beginning of the journey.

"So…" Severide broke the comfortable silence with what he knew would be an uncomfortable question but it had been playing on his mind. "Have you spoken to Dawson?"

"I work with her," Casey replied stiffly.

Severide hadn't expected an easy answer. "You know what I mean."

He shook his head. "Outside of work; no, I haven't."

"Don't you think you should?" Severide suggested.

" _I_ should? _She_ left me," he countered with the exact words Severide had been telling him all week; that she was the one who decided it was over, but that didn't mean he didn't blame himself.

"I know, I know," Severide replied. "Thought it might make you feel a little better if you guys cleared the air."

"Yeah? And what would I say?" he questioned incredulously.

"I… I don't know," Severide sighed.

"Yeah 'I don't know'..." he repeated. "Look, she's made her decision, history's shown that she'll stick with it whatever I say. I don't want to discuss it… it's probably all my fault anyway."

"That's not true, Casey," Severide replied.

"Whatever," he dismissed.

Severide decided to try not to bring Dawson up again; not talking about the situation still seemed to be the best way forward, it kept Casey civil towards him at least, and they both needed each other right now.

"We're not far away now," Severide noted after they turned off the main road.

"Have you spoken to Brittany?" Casey asked, Severide hadn't mentioned her for a few weeks.

"Yeah," Severide nodded, "She's good."

"And you're still all right with it all?" he questioned.

"Yeah, it was the best thing, meeting her was great and… and leaving her was great. It worked out for both of us, just what we needed," Severide replied.

"I'm glad, you were…" he began.

"Spiralling down?" Severide questioned, he took his eyes off the road for a second and gave Casey a wry smile.

"Yeah," he nodded, "I wish I could have done something more…"

"You did," Severide replied, "I never would have come back, never gone back into the apartment… you gave me a place to stay."

"That's what friends are for, right?" he shrugged.

"Right," Severide smiled, "So…"

"Don't," he replied quickly, "Not today. I'm tired of it."

"Ok," Severide accepted.

"Do you…" he began to ask but he stopped as Severide slammed the breaks down flinging them both forwards, he looked up to see a deer in the middle of their lane. The breaks locked and the car jerked, there was a blinding pain as Casey's head hit the side window and he knew no more.

"Case, hold on!" Severide called out but it was too late, Casey was already unconscious, his body slumped in the passenger seat beside him. Severide fought for control as the car skidded on the wet tarmac and slammed through the guard rail but it was fruitless. The car flipped sending Severide's head forwards and his chest onto the steering wheel. He blacked out.

Everything sounded muffled when Casey cracked open his eyes, the air smelt like fuel, damp and mud. His head was throbbing fiercely, he wondered where he was, what had happened. Slowly he became more and more aware, there was a voice calling his name but he couldn't move, he couldn't reply.

"Case?" Severide tried again, Casey was conscious now, his face scrunched in what he had no doubt was pain. "Case?"

"Mmm…" he muttered, it had taken all the effort in the world.

"Come on, Case… Tell me you're fine so I can tell you that you're lying…" Severide almost begged, there was so much blood on the passenger side window. "Case?

"Sev?" he questioned, it wasn't much more than a whisper but Severide let out a sigh of relief. The sigh of relief turned into coughing and wheezing. "Sev?" Casey questioned again, stronger now, his tone full of concern.

"I'm all right," Severide spluttered out/ "How are you?"

"What happened? Where are we?" Casey slurred.

"I… I erm… I crashed…" he replied, "We've gone straight through the guard rail. I don't know how far away we are from the road, think I blacked out, I've called 911, they're on their way but…"

"But we're in the middle of nowhere?" Casey frowned as Severide coughed and spluttered again. "Are you ok? That doesn't sound good."

"You tell me what hurts and I'll tell you what hurts," he smiled sloppily.

Casey paused. "My head."

"My ribs are broken and… and it's getting harder to breathe," he admitted. "What else is wrong with you?" He suspected there was more but he got no response. "Casey?" he looked across, Casey was unconscious, he gritted his teeth in agony as he moved his arm to reach Casey's neck, he didn't let out a breath until he felt Casey's pulse thump several times beneath his two fingers.

He tried to wake Casey but he was growing weaker and weaker. Looking down through the splintered windscreen he also grew more and more concerned at their precarious position. The car had only stopped because of the high impact it made when it slammed into a large tree, the bonnet of the car had crumpled around it.

Severide must have drifted off because he woke to the sound of screaming, little did he know that Casey had woken up only moments ago confused and disoriented, he had tried to move and his body had been set ablaze with agony. Casey passed out before Severide could do anything.

Casey's lucidity and awareness continued to vary as they waited for the emergency services. "Sev? You ok?"

"Hanging in there," Severide replied, he was struggling to breathe, his breaths were coming at short sharp intervals because it hurt too much to breathe properly. "Is there anything wrong besides your head?" he questioned hoping he'd caught Casey mid-vulnerability, he needed the truth from him.

"Erm…" Casey hesitated.

"Case?" he questioned.

"I… I erm… can't really feel my legs anymore…" Casey admitted with a slur, his vision hadn't cleared since the first time he'd woken up, the throbbing in his head was persistent and he was finding it incredibly hard to focus.

"Are they trapped?" he asked urgently.

"What?" Casey misheard him.

"Are your legs stuck? I can't see from here," he replied.

"Oh erm…" Casey looked down but he couldn't make much out with his bleary eyes. "I don't think so."

"Ok, just try not to move," he advised. "You could have…" But he didn't want to finish that sentence, he didn't want to be the cause of damaging Casey's spinal cord, he didn't want him to panic and in his debilitated state that was likely.

"Sev?" Casey questioned.

"I'm here," he replied.

"What happened? Where are we?" Casey slurred tiredly.

Severide's worry over Casey's mental state increased tenfold. "We had an accident, you're going to be ok," he replied gently.

Severide woke up in the midst of chaos, there was so much movement going on around him and he could hear sirens in the distance. "… Fire department, can you hear me? We're going to get you both out of here."

"Casey? ... Get Casey out first," Severide muttered, he felt a c-collar being slipped around his neck. "Casey? Is he all right? He hit his head…"

"He's breathing," the firefighter replied after a brief pause. "What's your name?"

"Severide, I'm a lieutenant with the CFD, we both are," he replied.

"Don't worry we'll get you both out of here as quickly as possible," the firefighter assured him.

"I know you will," he murmured, slowly losing his grip on consciousness.

The sound of machines nearly drowned out Casey's voice when he woke. "Sev?"

"I'm here," Severide slurred. "It's going to be all right Case," he reassured him before passing out.

Casey let out an agonising scream as he was moved into the stokes basket, he passed out from the pain before they finished securing him. The rescue crew carefully made their way up the terrain with Casey and Severide before handing them off to the awaiting paramedics.

The pain Casey was in was nearly unbearable, it would have been unbearable if he weren't so worried about Severide, he kept asking about him, he couldn't see him anymore, they were in separate ambulances but that didn't stop him from crying out for him. "Sev…"

"Sir, I need you to relax," the paramedic reposition the oxygen mask, Casey continued to struggle under the restraints despite his suspected injuries. "Your friend's in the ambulance behind us."

The suddenly he was no longer in the ambulance, there were no loud sirens but there was an amazing buzz around him, everyone was moving so fast, or maybe he was moving fast, everything seemed to be happening without him. "Kelly…." he muttered through the mask, he struggled on the gurney, hands held him down.

The paramedics were calling out details to the ER doctors but he heard none of it. His eyes were frantically searching around. He couldn't move. There were shots of agony up and down his body. His head felt like it was going to explode. There was a copper taste in his mouth.

"Get me a CBC, renal panel and a tox screen," a voice called out sharply, "Pass me the ultrasound."

Blood was drawn as he tried calling out once again. "Kel…" He didn't know where Severide was, he called out his name again but there was something muffling his voice. He continued frantically searching around despite his blurry vision. There was a thick warm trickle of blood over one eye. Finally. He spotted Severide from the very corner of his left eye. He called out for him.

"Sev…" He tried to twist and turn, the c-collar and backboard were not only uncomfortable but a hindrance to his efforts. Severide was surrounded by ER staff. He continued to twist and struggle. Why wasn't Severide saying anything? Why weren't they telling him anything?

Casey continued to struggle, a friendly face leant over him. "Sir, I need you to stay calm. They're doing their best to make sure you friend is ok. Now, I need you to concentrate on me. Can you tell me your name?"

"Matt..." It was barely audible.

A light was tormenting him.  
  
"Do you remember what happened?"  
  
Casey opened his mouth to reply but he had no answer, he couldn't remember, he couldn't understand where he was and couldn't understand why he was in so much pain.   
  
"Matt, do you remember what happened?" the voice was insistent. His vision was greying around the edges and suddenly there was a shrill beeping noise around him, his eyes rolled back and he knew no more as his body seized.


	2. A Hospital Stay

Severide woke up slowly, it felt like there was a heavy weight pressing down on his chest, and once he'd managed to open his eyes he realised he had no idea where he was, this wasn't his bed, the last thing he could remember was driving to his dads cabin, suddenly his heart raced and he called out, "Casey?"

"Kelly, stay calm for me, you're ok, you're in hospital, do you remember what happened?" an ER doctor had rushed over to his bay when he'd heard Severide's distress.

"Crashed the car," he struggled to get out, there were some heavy hitting drugs in his system diminishing the pain. "Where's Casey? He's ok, right? He has to be ok."

"He's just gone up to the OR," the doctor replied softly.

Severide tried to sit up. "His head. He hit his head." All he could picture was the blood smeared on the fractured glass of the passenger door.

"I need you to relax and lie back down," the ER doctor stated. "You have a tube in your chest, your lung collapsed, you have several broken ribs, a dislocated knee and a concussion, you need to stay calm."

"I don't care," Severide dismissed. "Is Casey going to be ok? He had a TBI about a year ago and…"

"Kelly, you've already told us, and Lakeshore has sent over his medical files," the doctor explained, "So, lie down and relax, I promise I will let you know about your friend when I know more."

"Oh..." Severide visibly relaxed and sank back down onto the gurney.

The next time Severide woke he didn't recognise his surroundings; he'd been moved, he was no longer in the ER. He recalled quickly why he was here, there'd been an accident, Casey was hurt, he sat up immediately but was forced back down when pain shot through his chest.

"Kelly, you're awake," it was the same ER doctor from before, he had just stepped into the room. "You were fast asleep when I came up earlier. Your friend is out of surgery, it went well and he's in the recovery room at the moment."

"How is he? His head?" he slurred, his own head felt like it had been stuffed to the brim with cotton wool, it took all of his strength just to stay awake.

"As far as I know his ICP is steady, there is a bleed but they're not operating on it," the doctor replied.

Severide frowned. "Why was he in the OR?" his voice cracked.

"He has a pelvic fracture, he was lucky there was no internal bleeding or further damage," the doctor answered.

There was a pit of guilt in Severide's stomach. "He's going to be ok?"

"I'm not his doctor but he should be," the doctor replied softly, "He is going to need a second surgery though."

"When? Can I see him?" he asked quickly.

"When he's stable," the doctor explained. "I'll get a nurse a nurse to take you to see him when he's out of recovery, it'll be at least an hour. Does he have family we can call? They should be here."

"But he's going to be all right?" he questioned at the mention of family.

The doctor nodded. "Hopefully, like I said I'm not his primary doctor."

"He won't want them here, he won't want them to see him hurt but his sister's number is in his phone, Christie, just in case…" Severide trailed off, no longer able to keep his eyes open.

After Casey had seized in the ER the CT revealed a small bleed in his brain, the neurosurgeon decided the best course of action was to wait for the bleed to resolve itself. He didn't want to do an unnecessary operation on a patient that had previously had emergency brain surgery, so he performed a small procedure to insert an ICP catheter so they could monitor the pressure in his brain. Although the impact on the car window had caused the wound the bleed heavily the wound itself was cleaned up and stitched easily. As soon as Casey had been assessed by the ambulance crew at the scene they suspected straight away that his pelvis had been fractured, most likely when the car had hit the tree and come to a standstill, they had wrapped it at the scene and fortunately the ultrasound in the ER had revealed no internal bleeding. His head injury meant that Casey hadn't been stable enough for surgery but they couldn't risk waiting to operate and fix his pelvis in case there was further damage that hadn't been seen. They stabilised the fractured with an external fixture as it was a shorter and less stressful operation but internal fixation would be better for his recovery in the future so Casey would need a second surgery once he was able.

When Casey woke in the recovery room after his surgery the doctor performed a quick neurological test. Casey did as the doctor said but he didn't speak, he didn't even try to say one word. However the doctor wasn't too worried yet, his scans were good and although the ICP showed an elevated pressure it was dropping steadily.

Severide didn't know how long he had been awake but he was growing more and more frustrated now the haze of drugs was wearing off and no one had mentioned Casey to him. The chest tube had been removed, only one IV remained. He wanted to see Casey, to make sure he was ok, to make sure he wasn't alone. What if Casey was lying there worrying about him? What if no one had told Casey that he was fine? Severide had had enough waiting; he hit the nurse call button on his bed.

Casey's doctor was stood by the nurse's station in the recovery room when Severide was wheeled in. "Sorry doctor, he was insistent," the nurse announced.

"How is he?" Severide asked urgently as he looked over to Casey's bed, he could barely see anything from his position by the doorway so he began to push himself closer. "Has he woken up yet?"

"Briefly," the doctor replied. Severide was by Casey's side now. "He's doing well considering his injuries." Severide scanned Casey from head to toe, it wasn't a pretty sight. The right side of his face was heavily bruised and the glass had left numerous cuts on his head and neck, similar to Severide's own face and neck. Severide could see the beginnings of the bruise caused by the seatbelt creeping out from under the gown he was wearing. Severide hoped it wasn't as painful as his chest but the doctor hadn't mentioned anything about Casey having a chest injury. The worst was the external fixation device on Casey's pelvis; it looked like something from a horror movie so Severide wasn't at all surprised by Casey's reaction when he woke a few moments later.

The doctor had left Severide by his friend's side, it wasn't strictly allowed but having heard they were both first responders and neither had family here he'd felt sympathy towards them. Casey's eyes opened blearily, they were unfocused. "Hey," Severide greeted quietly, he didn't want to alarm him, he remembered Casey's confusion when he had woken up after his previous head injury, he'd been so vulnerable and exposed. Casey didn't even acknowledge Severide's presence and the doctor had neither confirmed or denied brain damage, all Severide knew was that there was still a bleed. "Case?"

Casey's eyes continued to glance around, taking in his blurry surroundings slowly, his breath hitched and his heart raced causing the ECG monitor to blare sharply, Casey's chest was heaving, he was staring down at his body, at his pelvis. Severide called over to the doctor and gripped Casey's hand.

"Case, it's me, it's Severide, you're ok, you're in the hospital, you're ok," Severide tried to reassure him but Casey's panic continued, from the corner of his eye he saw the doctor uncap a syringe, there were tears running unashamedly down Casey's face. "Matt, you're ok, this is temporary I promise, you're ok…" He placed another hand on Casey's head, gently running his hand soothingly through the hair that wasn't covered by the white bandage. "You're ok…" he repeated as the syringe was administrated. It didn't take long for Casey's eyes to slip close but Severide continued his ministrations until the doctor spoke to him.

"You should get back to your room, you need rest too," the doctor stated and before Severide could object he added, "He won't wake up for a few hours now, you can see him again later, we'll be moving him to an intensive care ward soon."

Severide remained still, looking down at Casey. "Is there brain damage?" He'd never seen Casey so panicked before, so scared, it wasn't like him.

"None of the tests suggest there's any damage but we won't know for sure until he wakes up fully, it's only natural to wake up in here after an accident and be completely disorientated, when he woke earlier he didn't panic, he didn't say anything either but I'm not too concerned yet," the doctor replied. "Now, I'm going to have a nurse take you back to your room, try not to worry too much, you need your rest as well." But Severide was worried, he was worried and he was blaming himself.

The next time Casey woke there was no panic, he spotted Severide straight away, concern grew immediately threatening to explode but he couldn't move, he couldn't speak, why was Severide sat beside him a wheelchair? His face was bruised and scratched and his leg was elevated slightly, his knee secured in a short splint.

"Doc?" Severide called out when he realised Casey was watching him. "Matt?" He pushed himself as close as he could to Casey's side.

"Hi Matt," the doctor smiled down at him. "Do you remember where you are?"

Casey moved his head ever so slowly to each side as Severide glanced at the doctor with worry etched across his face.

"You're at Memorial Grace Hospital, you were in an accident, do you remember?" the doctor asked.

Casey glanced over to Severide as if for confirmation, Severide just smiled reassuringly, Casey opened his mouth to reply but no words came out, he couldn't remember what had happened, he only assumed that Severide had been with him at the time from the state of him.

"Can you tell me your full name?" the doctor questioned.

He looked away from Severide and back to the doctor, he opened his mouth, it took three attempts but eventually his words found their way to his lips. "Matt Casey," it was barely above the sound of a whisper but Severide could have cheered, Casey was awake, talking and remembering.

Smiling now the doctor continued, "Good Matt, are you in any pain?"

Casey scrunched his eyes shut with the effort and asked breathlessly. "What's wrong? Sev's ok?"

"I'm fine Casey, nothing serious," Severide reassured him, "Are you in any pain?"

"No…" he murmured. "What's wrong?" he glanced down at his body.

Severide looked towards the doctor and received no objection so he placed his IV free hand on Casey's arm. "You hit your head again." Severide saw the recognition in Casey's eyes and stated, "You've not had surgery, they're waiting for the bleed to stop."

"We're just going to monitor you for now, the neurosurgeon is very hopeful that the bleed will resolve itself," the doctor explained, "This is a lot to take in, but you are going to need a second surgery for your pelvis, there were two unstable fractures, a second surgery will improve your recovery."

Severide had been watching Casey through the doctors explanation. "You're going to be ok, Case, I'm gonna be right here with you and… and I'm sorry." But Casey didn't understand what he was apologising for and his eyes had already started to close.

"Get some more rest Matt, if you need anything hit the call button on the bed," the doctor explained but Casey was asleep before he finished.

"So he's ok?" Severide questioned urgently.

"I still need to do a proper neurological workup but so far everything's as expected," the doctor replied.

Severide was sent back to his room and the next time he was allowed to visit he was pushed in by a porter to find that Casey was awake and talking quite clearly to the doctor, he smiled as he pushed himself towards the bed.  
  
"Hey," Casey greeted him tiredly, "You look awful."

"I look awful?" he teased. "You have a wire stuck in your brain."

"Bet I make it look good though..." Casey drolled, a small smile played on his lips, they were definitely giving him some very good painkillers.

"Matt?" the doctor caught Casey's attention again, Severide grinned, happy that Casey had managed survive yet another serious brain injury, he really was lucky. "Can you repeat the three words I told you when you woke up?"

"House, bird, orange," Casey smiled.

"Good," the doctor nodded. "Who's the president?"

"Obama," Casey replied.

"And can you tell me what year it is?" the doctor smiled.

"2014," Casey smiled. Severide glanced from him to the doctor suddenly. "What's wrong?" Casey's smile faded.

"Do you know what month it is? The date?" the doctor questioned.

Casey was frowning now, worried because of the expression that lay across Severide's face. "December…" he replied unsure of himself, he knew it was December, but why did Severide look so concerned.

"It's January 2015," the doctor said gently.

"I missed Christmas," he muttered.

"Don't worry you didn't miss much," Severide smiled.

Casey was still frowning, a mixture of disappointment and confusion, "I don't remember anything. Why don't I remember anything?"

The doctor smiled down at him. "It's not too serious, might not even be permanent, the memories may come back. Now get some rest, you need it, I want to get you in for a second surgery as soon as you're able" He turned to Severide, "You need to get back into your bed too."


	3. A Second Sugery

Over the next thirty-six hours Casey stabilised and he was moved from the intensive care ward. He and Severide now shared a room, the staff had given up telling Severide that there were visiting hours and he should be resting and healing rather than hopping around the hospital on crutches to visit Casey.

Casey looked much more human now that the majority of wires and equipment had been removed. "So I'm missing five weeks?" He and Severide had been figuring out what the last moment he could remember was.

"Looks like it," Severide nodded, Casey had been surprisingly unfazed.

"Five weeks isn't much I guess… is it?" he frowned.

"Five weeks is nothing." Severide forced a smile, in the forefront of his mind he lay blame on himself. Casey couldn't remember five weeks of his life because of him, because of him Casey needed a second operation, because of him Casey was going to have a hard and lengthy recovery and there was the chance he'd never fully recover from his injuries but the doctors had all been positive despite this warning.

"What if I never remember?" he asked, the frown still played on his brows.

"Five weeks is nothing," Severide repeated.

"Ok," he nodded slowly.

"Are you all right?" Severide asked as soon as Casey's expression looked pained. "Your head?"

"Just a headache," he replied.

"That's there for a reason," Severide indicated the PCA pump by Casey's bed.

"I'm all right," he stated.

"You're matching the colour of the sheets," Severide stated.

"What were we doing?" he asked suddenly.

"What?" Severide questioned, he wasn't sure if Casey was just trying to change the subject or if it was a temporary effect of the head injury as he still spent a lot of his time in varying degrees of lucidity.

"When we crashed? What happened?" he reiterated.

"Oh…" Severide breathed, he knew Casey would ask eventually. "We were going up to my dad's cabin to fix the roof."

"That explains why we're not in Chicago then," he smiled tiredly, he'd been awake for half an hour, it was pushing on the longest time he'd been awake since the accident.

"Yeah…" Severide sighed, "Case, I was driving…"

"Ok," he replied, "Is your car…"

"It's totalled," Severide stated.

"Sorry," he said sympathetically.

"Sorry?" Severide frowned; he'd not expected an apology.

"You love your car," he replied.

"Matt, it was my fault," Severide responded.

He frowned, genuinely confused. "What was?"

" _I_ crashed the car," Severide pointed out firmly.

"On purpose?" he questioned.

"No I…"

"How was it your fault then?" he asked.

"Casey, you could have died," Severide exasperated.

"I didn't," he replied, "I'm fine."

"It took you five minutes to realise where you were when you woke up earlier and your pelvis is being held together by metal rods," Severide said darkly.

"It wasn't your fault," he stated.

"You don't even remember what happened," Severide countered much more harshly than intended.

"No, I don't but telling me that it was your fault that I can't remember the last five weeks isn't going to make this any better," he replied as strongly as he could, "Look, we're both alive, no one died, right?"

"No one died," Severide replied.

"Please don't blame yourself," he insisted.

Severide only managed to force a smile before they were interrupted by a porter. "Matt Casey?" he smiled, "I'm here to take you up for your CT scan."

Casey fell asleep five minutes into the CT scan and woke up back in his room, it took him a few moments to remember where he was although he couldn't recall exactly why he was in the hospital until he saw Severide asleep beside him. He wished he could remember the accident at least, he didn't want Severide to blame himself, Casey wasn't happy that he was going to be out of action for a minimum of three months and it would most likely take twice that long before he was cleared for duty, he had tried his best not to appear too miserable about it in front of Severide when he had been told. There was good news later that day though; he was cleared for the second surgery.

"Is there a phone I can use?" Casey asked the next morning. Severide was sitting on his bed eating breakfast, he had denied it at first since Casey hadn't been allowed anything to eat since midnight, but Casey had told him he wouldn't have wanted breakfast even if he were allowed it. He was still feeling nauseous a lot of the time he was conscious but it had lessoned gradually over the last few days.

"Oh, you're phone survived, it's here, you're not allowed to use it in here though… you wanna call someone?" Severide asked.

"Just wanted to speak to Gabby before the surgery," he replied. "Does everyone know what happened?"

"Yeah, I called Boden, he wanted to come over and see us but I told him not to waste the two hour journey, that you'd be transferred after the surgery," Severide explained

"That's good… Has Gabby said anything? I know she's probably really busy…" he trailed off.

"Oh…" Realisation hit Severide. "I'll… I'll go and give her an update…"

"Thanks," Casey murmured.

Severide grabbed his side as he sat up and gritted his teeth, his pain medication had been reduced to a few pills a day, he took hold of his crutches, put Casey's phone in the pocket of his gown and hobbled out of the room. He had no intention of calling Dawson, instead he spotted Casey's doctor and went over to him. "Doc? Can I have a minute?"   
  
He nodded.  
  
"Do I tell him things? Things he can't remember even if…"

"If he wants to know then yes," the doctor replied simply.

"He's asking for his fiancée… they broke up, he doesn't remember…" he explained.

"Don't lie to him," the doctor advised.

Back in their shared room Severide sat down on the side of his bed, Casey was already drifting off to sleep. "Case? You awake?"

"Fast asleep," he muttered as he opened his eyes.

"Matt, I need to tell you something," Severide stated, there was going to be no easy way to tell him.

"What's wrong?" Casey slurred. "You sound serious… Is Gabby ok? Did you speak to her?"

"Case… Matt…" he sighed, hating to be the bearer of bad news. "Dawson left you nearly two weeks ago."

"What?" Casey's expression was heart breaking and it only grew worse with his next words. "What did I do?"

"Nothing, you didn't do anything, she left you, it wasn't anything you did," he tried to reassure him.

Casey either hadn't heard him or didn't believe him. "What did I do wrong?" his voice cracked.

"Case ,you didn't do anything wrong I promise, it was her decision… she wasn't happy through no fault of yours, working together and living together it just didn't work, you tried Case but it just didn't work," Severide explained. "I'm impressed it worked for so long," he adding trying to lighten the mood.

"She knows I'm here? That there was an accident?" Casey questioned.

"The whole house knows, they don't know the details but they know enough," he explained.

"And she's not come?" Casey frowned, disappointment clearly evident in his tone.

Severide remembered having a similar conversation over a year ago when Casey's own mom didn't even visit him after his close call that had resulted in weeks of recovery. "No but she must be busy with Molly's, with training…"

"Too busy for…" he began sadly, too tired and in too much pain to hide his emotions.

"I'm here, Casey," Severide quickly interrupted, "And I'd be here if I weren't the one who crashed the car… You're worried about the surgery? The doc says it's a routine op, it'll be long but they know what they're doing and when it's over we'll get back to Chicago, I've already spoken to Med, we'll get you a room there so you'll be closer to home and it won't be long until you can go home."

"What happens if I don't recover properly?" He was starting to panic now. "That's it isn't it… it'll be over… I love it… I know it could have been a lot worse, I know it was close but I'd miss it if I couldn't do it… Sorry I don't mean to make you feel guilty, I'm not blaming you, I'm just…"

"Scared," Severide supplied.

"I was going to say worried but yeah, scared is right," he shrugged, "I mean, they're still giving me all these anticonvulsants, I still don't remember the last five weeks and…"

"Casey, you know who you are, you know your job, you're not missing chunks of time at the moment, not like before right?" Severide reassured him.

"I don't think so," he replied calmly.

"You knew there was something very wrong last time, your head's ok, the doctor says your head's ok," Severide said.

"Yeah, I guess I should listen to him," he forced a smile.

"Yeah, you should especially when he says this surgery is going to be fine," Severide nodded.

Casey was woken up after the surgery had been completed, there was a weight pressing on his chest, he opened his eyes planning on telling whoever it was to leave him alone. "Matt, I need you to wake up for me," he recognised the voice and groaned inwardly, he was in the hospital, it hadn't all been some terrible dream. "Matt?"

"M'awake," Casey muttered.

"Open your eyes again for me."  
  
He hadn't realised he'd shut them.  
  
"Hi Matt," his doctor greeted him when he cracked his eyes open. "The surgery went well, don't worry if you can't feel much right now, it's the pain medication. Can you tell me your full name?"

"Matt Casey," he replied quietly. "… President is Obama, I'm in hospital, I was born on…"

"It's all right, I'll stop you there, Matt," the doctor smiled down at him. "Get some rest."

Two days later both Casey and Severide were transferred to Chicago Med. Casey was still spending a lot of his time asleep. He had already started his physical therapy sessions but unfortunately because there had been a break on each side of his pelvis he wouldn't be able to go straight to crutches; he'd be confined to a wheelchair until he was given clearance by his doctor. Since Casey wasn't able to weight bear the physiotherapist worked with him to improve his hip, spine and leg motion. Before using the wheelchair they would usually improve upper body strength to help him get around but she did very little because Casey had been at the peak of his fitness when the accident occurred, once Casey was off the heavy hitting painkillers he felt much more like his old self and felt much stronger.

Three days after they had been transferred Severide had been discharged but he had yet to leave the hospital, he was sat in Casey's room. Casey was awake, eyes glazed and unfocused but Severide wasn't worried, he'd just been down to the physical therapy suite for the first time, having only completed exercises in the hospital room previously, he was exhausted and still suffering from the effects of his head injury, mainly pressure headaches and the occasional nausea.

"It was a deer," Casey stated.

"What?" he frowned, "You remember?"

"I don't know, it was a dream, everything's hazy," Casey explained.

"It was a deer… I risked your life for a deer," he replied with a heavy sigh.

"People have risked my life for less than a deer," Casey said. "Remember that guy who tried to drag me back to get a chair?"

"I remember the black eye you gave him," he grinned.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Casey teased, they kept the circumstances of the injury hidden at the time of the call but there really had been no other way for Casey to stop the man dragging him back into danger. Casey took a few moments before revealing quietly, "I still don't remember anything else."

"Give it some more time, it's only been two weeks," Severide smiled reassuringly.

It was three long and painful months until Casey was allowed to walk without any aid but he was home from the hospital four weeks after the accident. Severide blamed himself, he always would, no matter how much Casey insisted that it wasn't his fault. Yes, Casey wished it had never happened especially when the pain radiated around his body so much after just taking several steps unaided for the first time that he wanted to give up and breakdown, but laying blame wasn't a solution instead he used Severide's encouragement to get him through the particularly hard days.

Six months after the accident Severide was sitting outside Casey's doctor's office anxiously awaiting his friend. He stood up when the door opened and Casey walked out, you could barely tell that he had spent the last few weeks limping slightly. "Don't keep me waiting any longer," he spoke when Casey didn't immediately speak.

Casey's face was a mask until he allowed a huge smile to spread across his lips. "As of next Monday, I'm cleared for light duty."

"You've done it!" he beamed.

"Couldn't have done it without you," Casey replied.

He scoffed. "You wouldn't have needed to do it without me."

It took Casey another month to get back to full duty. He never did fully remember those five weeks that had been erased from his life when his head had slammed into the passenger side window. Severide had laughed when Casey asked him for details of the missing weeks during his early stages of recovery hand would tell him his right hand was grateful that he couldn't remember. Severide and his doctor told him not to dwell on those missing weeks, that it would do no good, and for once Casey took their advice without questioning even though it seemed as though Dawson had just been a blip in his life who had come along and then vanished with little explanation, he saw her once when she came along with the rest of 51 after he'd been transferred to Chicago Med and then she vanished from his life for good.  
 **  
**


End file.
